Ponting faces Ashes ban

AUSTRALIA'S ordinary behavioural record could haunt it during the Ashes series, with captain Ricky Ponting now close to a ban of one Test or two limited-overs matches if he continues to query umpiring decisions.

Ponting was stripped of his entire match fee - a base figure of $4900 plus a tour premium of $1960 - for showing dissent during the topsy-turvy win over West Indies in the tri-series opener at Kinrara Oval overnight.

He reacted badly when umpire Asad Rauf called all rounder Shane Watson for a wide in the 33rd over of the night, at a time when Australia was already en route to an amazing victory.

Thanks to 2-65 from Mitchell Johnson, 4-43 from Shane Watson and a solitary Glenn McGrath wicket, the Windies were bowled out for 201 in pursuit of 9-279, losing 9-29 after appearing poised for victory at 1-172 with Shivnarine Chanderpaul at the crease o 92.

As his second offence in 12 months - Ponting was fined 25 per cent of his match fee for showing dissent during the second Test against Bangladesh in Chittagong in April - it means any further infractions between now and April next year would leave him open to receiving a suspension as a repeat offender.

With that in mind, Ponting will need to keep a close rein on his emotions during the Ashes, and in the Champions Trophy that precedes it, despite the stakes being far higher there than it was in Bangladesh or Malaysia.

It is understood the International Cricket Council will not look kindly upon a third offence, making an international ban more likely than another fine.

In addition to the financial sanction, match referee Chris Broad offered a stern rebuke to Ponting about a captain's need to set an example for his team.

"A captain should set the example for his players to follow and it is not acceptable for any player, let alone a captain, to question an umpire's decision," Broad said.

Ponting today offered a string of apologies in a contrite statement that suggested he realised the seriousness of his predicament.

"Having had the opportunity to sleep on the incident I know I made a serious error of judgment," Ponting said via a statement.

"I regret the approach I made to umpire Asad Rauf and realise I shouldn't have behaved in the way I did.

"As the captain of the Australian cricket team, I understand it's my responsibility to uphold the spirit of the game and I know that through my actions last night I let myself and my team down.

"I'll be personally apologising to umpire Rauf at the first opportunity and this morning I called a team meeting to apologise to the players."

Acting Australia vice-captain Michael Clarke, who made a quick 81 against West Indies, said the team held Ponting in the highest possible regard.

"I think it's another sign of the respect everyone has for Punter, for him to apologise, I think a lot of other guys would not have done that," he said today.

"By apologising and making this statement he's showing that he wants the team to be better, he wants us to be more disciplined than everyone else."

Cricket Australia acting chief executive Michael Brown said the board was unhappy with Ponting's actions but keen to move forward.

"Cricket Australia finds this incident unacceptable and inappropriate. I've spoken to Ricky and he's expressed his disappointment at his actions," he said.

"We're very strongly committed to the spirit of cricket and we believe in playing hard but fair."

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Punter is a tough bloke i have no worries about his aggression on the field, but its a bit hot at times so with him knowing this i guess he will cool it hopefully because i don't want to resort to calling Ponting stupid at all..

Could be of some advantage if he was out, that way Australia might actually get a useful, affective captain.

Not the first time I've heard that said.

I also wonder if he might be the least liked captain since Lawry. Obviously Kim Hughes was targeted internally by players that had issues with him being rewarded for being the ACB's boy, but I didn't get the impression he was that disliked that much by the general public - well, before the South Africa thing, anyway. Almost everybody I speak to (and most of us have varying opinions about cricket(ers) in general) can't stand Punter.

IMO, he acts like an idiot, and worse, he's a first class whiner in a team that wins like few others. I love seeing Australia win, but he occasionally sours the experience in a way that I don't believe a controversial (and certainly disliked by many opposition supporters) player like Warnie does - it's probably because even though Warne does many stupid things, he's still basically a likeable character with a great cricket brain.

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Well said. He's just been voted on this site as best No.3 for he past 20 years and his record at no. 3 is an average of over 60. Yeah, we could really do without him, couldn't we?

His captaincy has come in for criticism at times and he's not as innovative as Taylor and doesn't have quite as great a team as Waugh did, but his record's still very good. Much of the criticism of his style last Northern Summer was, imo, misplaced. He made a big blunder sending England in at Edgbaston, but aside from that he was without his best fast bowler for 2 tests and the other pace men bowled pump for much of the series.

You've got to have the cattle - Taylor and Waugh were both helped by having McGrath & Warne, whilst I Chappell, the critic of all things about S Waugh and Ponting in terms of their captaincy styles, tends to forget he had Lillee and Thomson at their terrifying best. The point is you need to have bowlers capable of consistently taking 20 wickets or you won't win tests.

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"I think it's another sign of the respect everyone has for Punter, for him to apologise, I think a lot of other guys would not have done that," he said today.

Really? Yet it seems EVERYONE apologizes after a serious offence...

Sreesanth said, "Next ball he was beaten and I said, 'is this the King Charles Lara? Who is this impostor, moving around nervously? I should have kept my mouth shut for the next ball - mind you, it was a length ball - Lara just pulled it over the church beyond the boundary! He is a true legend."

His captaincy has come in for criticism at times and he's not as innovative as Taylor and doesn't have quite as great a team as Waugh did, but his record's still very good. Much of the criticism of his style last Northern Summer was, imo, misplaced. He made a big blunder sending England in at Edgbaston, but aside from that he was without his best fast bowler for 2 tests and the other pace men bowled pump for much of the series.

He inherited a very good team in an era with a subpar South Africa, an incosistent Pakistan and a building India. The only thoroughly quality opposition his team has met under his captaincy is England - he lost. Ponting has done enough to suggest that his record is more a reflection of a good team than a good captain.

Interesting point. To some extent, you must have a good team to be a good captain, mustn't you? I take your point though. The jury's still out I guess and the true test will be when Warne and McGrath go and he needs to be more innovative than just throwing the ball to those blokes.

Interesting point. To some extent, you must have a good team to be a good captain, mustn't you? I take your point though. The jury's still out I guess and the true test will be when Warne and McGrath go and he needs to be more innovative than just throwing the ball to those blokes.

No. A good captain (eg Stephen Fleming) can take an ordinary team (New Zealand) and make it a good team.

Besides, having a good team doesn't guarantee you'll be a good captain.

I think a chimp could captain Australia on a good day (most days), especially if that chimp is averaging well over 50 in Test cricket.

I really can't stand him, When he was playing NZ, You know those games when NZ won one and just lost one(the best chase before aus/sa) He kept going off in those games. Fair enough a player doing that, But the cap? no way he should settle down or get out.

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I also wonder if he might be the least liked captain since Lawry. Obviously Kim Hughes was targeted internally by players that had issues with him being rewarded for being the ACB's boy, but I didn't get the impression he was that disliked that much by the general public - well, before the South Africa thing, anyway. Almost everybody I speak to (and most of us have varying opinions about cricket(ers) in general) can't stand Punter.

IMO, he acts like an idiot, and worse, he's a first class whiner in a team that wins like few others. I love seeing Australia win, but he occasionally sours the experience in a way that I don't believe a controversial (and certainly disliked by many opposition supporters) player like Warnie does - it's probably because even though Warne does many stupid things, he's still basically a likeable character with a great cricket brain.

Excellent post. I have the same opinion of Ponting. Some of the things he does makes me cringe (sp). As a captain of a sub-districts side I'd be raked over coals if I did some of the things he does.

Ponting has been a bit of a chimp as Captain, but he is getting better (tactics wise... behaviour has been a little below par). It's unfortunate on his behalf that he is going to be compared to what Waugh & Taylor did.

As it has been pointed out...he's been handed over an ageing team, and will most likely captain the team through the difficult period where we will see a lot of personel change. Stability is a key ingredient to any successful formula, and it's something Ponting HASN'T had from the start of the ashes, and is unlikely to have for most of his captaining career due to the age (average 34 ) of the team.

Originally Posted by Jono

Mitch Johnson is ****ing awesome for cricket.

Originally Posted by pasag

Ponting's ability to ton up in the first innings of a series should not be understated. So much pressure, so important. What a great!